Prison bosses waste millions putting officers up in swanky hotels

CRISIS: The Prisons Service is spending fortunes on housing emergency staff

More than £2.5million has gone on accommodation and travelling expenses for guards brought in to plug shortfalls.

Prison Officers’ Association boss Steve Gillan said the money would be better spent on recruiting more staff and raising pay.

Figures from the “detached duty” scheme show more than £2.4m has been spent on accommodation and nearly £250,000 on rail fares since December 2016.

The most expensive month was October last year when around £320,000 was paid for hotels and £26,000 went on tickets.

GETTY

PRISON BILL: Emergency staff are costing UK prisons millions

Inside Britain's CUSHIEST prison

With prisons elsewhere being crippled by violence and the proliferation of deadly legal highs like 'spice,' the answer in Wales is to open the largest prison in Europe, with football pitches, gyms and 'rooms' instead of cells

1 / 20

Getty Images

An outside football pitch

“Money that is supposed to be going to prison officers in improving pay and increasing staff is instead going on hotel bills”

Steve Gillan

Mr Gillan said: “Money that is supposed to be going to prison officers in improving pay and increasing staff is instead going on hotel bills.

“This is no way to deal with the crisis in our prisons.”

The POA leader said the Government had been running detached duty for four years and “we can only guess” the true cost.

The figures came out in a written parliamentary question by Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon.

He said: “This is an expensive short-term sticking plaster that doesn’t resolve the disastrous Tory decision to axe thousands of prison offi cers, which has left our prisons less safe than ever, for both staff and prisoners.”

The Government claims it is on track to fulfi l its pledge to recruit an extra 2,500 warders by the end of this year.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: “When there is a need to accommodate staff in hotels, we work hard to ensure the best possible value for money for the taxpayer.”